19th Fletcher Henderson Jazz Fest planned
Jazz great honored yearly in Cuthbert, his hometown
Special Illustration
From Staff Reports
CUTHBERT — The Fletcher Henderson Foundation will provide all the great jazz in Cuthbert on Oct. 6 during the 19th annual Fletcher Henderson Jazz Festival. The festival runs from 1-6 p.m. at the Iris Gardens, located across from Andrew College on U.S. Highway 50/82.
Featuring jazz artists from Alabama, Florida and Georgia, the lineup includes The Georgia Collegiate Jazz Collective, who will play at 1 p.m.; the Voodoo Saints out of Tuscaloosa, Ala., who will play at 2:15 p.m.; the Emmanuel “Chops” Smith Trio of Atlanta, who will play at 3:30 p.m., and the United States Army Maneuver Center of Excellence Band (283rd Army Band, headquartered at Fort Benning), who will take the stage at 5 p.m.
Music includes the sounds of New Orleans Jazz, Dixieland, Swing and modern artists.
The Iris Gardens is an outdoor venue, so attendees are encouraged to bring a lawn chair and spend the day. Barbecue and other food will be available for purchase from regional vendors. There will be activities for all ages, including face painting and craft vendors. Admission is free.
Fletcher Henderson Jr. was perhaps the single most important influence in the development of big band jazz in America. He drew attention and acclaim to his own band during the 1920s and, later, to the bands of Benny Goodman, for whom he arranged in the 1930s and ’40s. Many giants of the jazz world either got their start with, or played with, the Henderson bands of the 1920s, including Louis Armstrong, Coleman Hawkins, Benny Carter and Roy Eldridge. Henderson was born in Cuthbert in 1897 and died in 1952. His boyhood home, located at 338 Andrew St., is in the process of being restored.
The Fletcher Henderson Foundation’s mission is to seek out and aid in educational, charitable and literary purposes. The mission is to acknowledge and ensure that the cultural heritage and legacy of contributions made in the community and country are kept and shared with everyone, near and far, especially our youths. The foundation also works to introduce the wealth of knowledge and contributions of those sons and daughters, especially, Fletcher “Smack” Henderson Jr., for whom the foundation is named.
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